The system, developed by a company named Zerofootprint, places passive high-frequency RFID tags into the electric plugs of appliances and other devices.
Nov. 17, 2009—Zerofootprint, a Toronto-based company whose initial product is a software-as-a-service-based enterprise carbon management solution for corporations, has developed an RFID-enabled system for monitoring and managing home electricity usage, called the TALKINGplug™. This system is based on an RFID-enabled electrical outlet and plug system that can track energy usage at the device or appliance level.
Ron Dembo, Zerofootprint’s CEO and founder, says his company will make the system available this coming spring.
Zerofootprint developed the TALKINGplug™ system through a joint venture with 2D2C, a manufacturer of electrical outlet systems designed to improve safety. The TALKINGplug™ outlet, which plugs into a wall power outlet, contains two ISO 14443-compliant 13.56 MHz RFID interrogators—one for each of its two plug receptacles. Users place a passive 13.56 MHz RFID tag onto the plug of each of their appliances or electronic devices. The tag slides over the plug’s prongs, and is set in place with adhesive. To protect it from the physical force of a plug being inserted into an electrical socket, the tag is covered with an epoxy coating.
Read More at: http://www.rfidjournal.com/